Wetherby Photos Past and Present

Fascinated by how things used to be compared to how they look now...

I am hoping to start a photographic archive of Wetherby - comparing photographs from the past with those of the present.

See, also, our page of photographs and information about Wetherby Railway Station

Here is a start:

York Road - HMS Ceres Naval Training Base - (now Wetherby Young Offenders)



HMS Ceres, Wetherby, Main Gate

 This shows the main entrance and gatehouse of HMS Ceres Naval training Base. Originally built in 1942 and intended to be one of two hostels for the munitions workers at the nearby Thorpe Arch Royal Ordnance factory (now a retail park!). However it was commandeered by the Admiralty and became the training base HMS Cabot, renamed HMS Demetrius in 1943, finally becoming known as HMS Ceres.

In 1958, when the Navy base moved to Chatham, the site became a borstal - Wetherby Young Offenders Instiute - and is now known as HMYOI Wetherby Secure College of Learning and this next photo shows the same view today.

Current (2011) view of the old gatehouse

Another view of the gatehouse then...

On this next photo, the building in the background looks like the one in the modern day photo below, but I don't think it is. You can see the same building in the top photo above and it looks much closer to the entrance. I think this original building must have been demolished?

... the gatehouse now

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